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The Florida Bar will undertake a comprehensive review of its committees, sections, and divisions in an effort to streamline operations, President Michael Fox Orr told the Board of Governors July 17.<\/p>\nBoard launches Bar-wide review of committees, sections, and divisions<\/p>\n
The Florida Bar will undertake a comprehensive review of its committees, sections, and divisions in an effort to streamline operations, President Michael Fox Orr told the Board of Governors July 17.<\/p>\n
Orr said the Program Evaluation Committee will develop recommendations for the board to consider this fall, with the goal of acting on proposed changes before the board’s January 2027 meeting with the Florida Supreme Court.<\/p>\n
Orr said the review reflects discussions with the court about improving the Bar’s efficiency and demonstrates that the organization is willing to examine its operations.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe PEC under Chair [Gordon] Glover’s leadership is going to review all the committees and all the sections \u2014 essentially all internal operations at the Bar, and we’ve never done that before.\u201d<\/p>\n
The \u201caggressive\u201d timeframe will be challenging, Orr said, but it will demonstrate the Bar\u2019s commitment.<\/p>\n
\u201cBeing able to go into that meeting and explain to the court that we didn’t just talk about something for a year or talk about something for 2 years or create a committee that’s going to talk about something for 3 years \u2014 that we’ve actually taken action on a number of items, and we’ve already progressed in various areas to become more efficient.\u201d<\/p>\n
Presiding over the first board meeting since his June swearing-in, Orr said he already identified potential efficiencies while vetting thousands of applicants for appointment to the Bar\u2019s 74 committees.<\/p>\n
Orr said the PEC will review and determine whether, “for example, some committees are operating outside of their scope, some are duplicating efforts and should be merged, or some may not be meeting their goals such that the goals should be amended or maybe we should pivot in some other way.”<\/p>\n
The board also voted to eliminate Policies Governing Continuing Legal Education Committee 2.02 (Speaker Diversity) and adopt new Standing Board Policy 5.10 governing committees, sections, and divisions.<\/p>\n
CLE Committee Policy 2.02 stated that Bar sections, divisions, and committees should “recognize the diversity of the legal community and shall select qualified speakers who reflect that diversity.”<\/p>\n
According to a staff analysis, the policy’s removal from the Policies Governing the Continuing Legal Education Committee was inadvertently overlooked during a 2024 review undertaken at the direction of the Florida Supreme Court.<\/p>\n
The new policy states that Bar committees, sections, and divisions are subject to a policy of nondiscrimination, inclusivity, and equal opportunity, and that related activities must be focused on and titled accordingly.<\/p>\n
Proponents of the change argued that the new policy simply addresses the oversight and conforms to Bar practices. Opponents expressed concern that the policy needed more time to be vetted.<\/p>\n
Disposition of Frozen Trust Funds <\/p>\n